The most humbling day of my trip so far. Heather H, John G, Reg, Gerrid and myself rose at 6:00 to join the kids trip to the market to beg for food. The 5 of us plus 4 girls piled into the back of the 3 ton truck along with empty crates. First we stopped in Los Angeles to pick up 5 boys and the off to the market across town. The market is about 6 square blocks of wholesale vendors (mostly produce). I was amazed at the quantity of everything from onions to oranges. Upon arriving we broke into teams. Heather H and I went with 2 girls and 3 boys. The girls would go ahead of us asking the vendors for donations. They passed several vendor that they know from experience will not provide any support. I was shocked by all the vendors that said no when there was so much to offer. A few vendors provided good produce (50 pound bag of carrots) but most provide the over ripe goods. At one stop a vendor provide lots of fruit and vegetables. The girls immediately starting sorting. We ended up with 5 crates of good produce and 2 crates of rotten which we left. The girls were amazing. I fought back tears many times as I watched these kids get turned down or be given discards. We spent from 7:30 to 10:00 begging. Then it was back on the truck as the kids needed to get to school. Needless to say the trip back was a lot tighter than the trip there. We ended up with about 40 crates full of produce. On our way home we stopped for donations of chickens (about 12) and huge bag of pork rinds (deep fried). In Mexico they make a rice soup and add in the pork rinds. When we got back we helped off load the truck before heading off to work.
The rain started around 9:00 and didn't stop all day. One team finished off laying the floor foundation in the hole while another continued laying a retaining wall. A team staeted building shelves in the boys dorm. I went back to painting the girls dorm. The painting team had moved into the court yard where we had shelter from the rain. For recess we played floor hockey in the gym with the kids.
Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day. After diner a few of the team went to a small town near hear to see the sites. Unfortunately due to the rain most of the outdoor activites were shut down.
Another 2 people down today (Heather R and Peggy) plus John G and I are fighting a cold. The septic pump is losing it's prime again. Ira will be up all night trying to keep it going so that the temporary tank doesn't overflow. I went to bed right after devotional as I am catching a cold. Unfortunately something went wrong with my laptop overnight and I can't break through the firewall. We will have to use the office connection tomorrow.
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